


Two Dorks, Miscommunication And The Unknown(TM)

by FullmetalDude1



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (Because I'm a fucking nerd and doing both my own and the gifter's wish fulfillment), (because Keith doesn't realize the wolf he sees every night is Shiro), Affection, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Artist Keith (Voltron), Asking Out, Attempted Seduction, Autistic Keith (Voltron), Bad Flirting, Boyfriend jacket, Bullying, Café, Cannibalism, Comic-Con, Communication, Cooking, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dating, Deep Conversations, Digimon Referencess, Distance, First Kiss, Flowers, Gay Disaster Shiro (Voltron), Gun Violence, Happy Ending, Healing Magic, Jeans, M/M, Manuel Labour, Meet Cute (except it's not cute at all), Mild Gore, Morning After, Morning Cuddles, Morning Kisses, Motorcycles, Nightly Meetings, Oblivious Keith (Voltron), Pet Names, Pining Shiro (Voltron), Serious Injuries, Singer Keith (Voltron), Special Interests, Talking to animals, Texting, Trans Keith (Voltron), Vampire Allura (Voltron), Vampire Lance (Voltron), Vampire Thrall, Wendigo Pidge (Voltron), Werewolf Reveal, Werewolf Shiro (Voltron), Wingman Allura (Voltron), Witch Hunter James Griffin (Voltron), Witch Keith (Voltron), cosplaying, foraging, hand holding, movie date, playing fetch, reconnect, second meetings, sex negotiations, shitty jobs, werewolf courtship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-28 10:00:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15704964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FullmetalDude1/pseuds/FullmetalDude1
Summary: Keith's having a casual stroll through the woods late one night, wondering if he'll be able to make lunch through whatever he can find out there, when he finds a wolf needing medical attention. Damnit, his magic will have to do.Shiro's having a casual stroll down the street, wondering if he'll be able to survive another meeting with that stupid co-worker, when he's saved from a bucket of paint ruining his suit by a really, really hot dude who saved his life last night too. Oh heaven help him.Meanwhile, Witch Hunters have beef with Allura, Lance shows up now and then, Pidge saves everyone via murder and Hunk is mentioned now and then.





	1. First Meetings Aren't Romantic

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HedonistInk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HedonistInk/gifts).



Keith didn’t know a lot about his Mom. His memories of living with her and his dad are muddled at best. He knew he got his knife from her and that she had magic. She taught him how to use his own magic, though he’s pretty sure he’s lost a lot of his skills when he got taken by social services and couldn’t practise anymore.

But it's alright, because he still knew how to heal himself. That's the thing that mattered most when so many people were interested in picking fights with him. He didn't know why they liked to pick fights with him so much. Maybe he was just cursed, like most witches were in fairy tales.

Or maybe he wasn't cursed. Maybe he was gifted. Or at least, he hoped so when he saw the wolf in his path, lying in the forest, bleeding out and whimpering in pain. It had a deep wound in it’s side, it’s head curled in as it cried, it’s legs sprawled and unable to support it’s being.

He had to help it. He had to!

Keith calls out softly, “Hey.”

The wolf looks up at him in fear, whimpering and trying to shuffle away from him.

“It’s okay.” Keith says, holding out his hands, palms up, “I’m not gonna hurt you. You’re gonna be fine. I promise. I just want to help you get better. It won’t hurt, I swear.”

Slowly, the wolf calms down as Keith repeats the phrase and a few similar ones as he gets closer. The wolf doesn’t flinch when he falls to the creature’s side to inspect the wound. The hole in the animal pulses and squeezes out blood as it breathes. Keith presses his hands to the open wound, keeping the pressure on to stop the blood loss and concentrates. 

He's healed animals before, he can do it again. He just has to focus and remember his mother’s words.

_ “Remember, when healling another, it’s important to understand the injury and how it came to be. Luckily, magic is as powerful as our intent, so as long as you will it to find out what happened, you will know. And then once you know, you can will the injuries to heal.” _

He takes a deep breathe and lets his magic overtake him. He can feel the injuries being torn apart by a the stab of a cruel spear. Something coated in silver, strong like steel, but not quite. It doesn't matter, because there's no chips or anything in the wound to extract, luckily. He just has to focus on repairing the injuries.

Keith works on telling the blood to replenish itself, telling his energy to give the body in front of him what it needs to survive. He tells the muscles to seal themselves, to grow stronger together than ever before, offering his own energy to help them get through it. He orders the skin to renew itself faster than it ever has before, to heal and protect the insides of this body from infection and disease. He helps the fur regrow, an insulator to keep the wound from growing cold.

He won't let this creature die. He won't allow it to. 

Keith takes a deep breathe as the injury finally finishes healing. It's done. He's saved it. He smiles and pets the wolf's side, "You're gonna be okay."

* * *

Then the human passes out.

The wolf panics, nosing at him, whimpering around his neck, trying to ask the little human maybe witch, what's wrong. It looks and acts like a human, but there’s no way this is a human, humans don’t possess healing energy. He could be a witch, but the covens are far from here and witches haven’t dared to live in cities since the Great Betrayal.

Who could this boy be?

That's when he remembers. Magic exhaust witches easily, especially healing magic on creatures of the night. It’s not easy for a wolf to recover from being stabbed with a silver spear, he can’t imagine how much energy the poor thing has used on him to save his life.

He should get the poor thing home.

The wolf grabs the human by the scruff of the neck and throws it on his back. It lands awkwardly, so he jumps to make sure the human is settled more securely on him. He sniffs the ground and follows the path the maybe witch left. 

It’s been a very long time since he’s run into a witch. His human hasn’t seen the Spy for years, not after she helped heal his injuries that one time and learn to let the wolf take control. She hadn’t visited their home in the city or the forest since then, his human thought she’d died at some point. The wolf had believed his human too.

But now, a witch is on his back, exhausted after using his magic to heal a stab from a silver spear, so he must not be well versed in magic. Most witches by his age don’t pass out after healing others. Maybe he hadn’t eaten well that day? The witch is a little skinny.

Actually, this witch isn’t in very good condition at all, now that he thinks about it. Not only was the witch skinny, but he didn’t look like he had much energy left in him. Walking through the forest isn’t easy, especially at night, even for witches who do have good enough control of their magic to see in the dark. Which this witch clearly does not. What was he out here for?

Was the witch hungry? He should be now, if not already. Perhaps once he’s found a safe place for the human to rest, he should bring him back a kill. But don’t just eat meat, they like berries too. He should get his human to pick some, with his guidance of course.

The witch on his back hums and tightens his arms around him. The wolf looks back to find him sound asleep, drooling by the looks of it into his fur. Cute little thing.

Maybe along with doing all that, he should take this little witch for his mate. He’ll have to court the witch, of course, he’s not some dishonourable beast, but that shouldn’t be too bad. Courting a creature like this will be fun, you never know what witches will do when met with affection. They’re truly charming creatures and a wolf’s natural place is at a witch’s side.

It’s settled. He’ll make this little witch his mate.

With a new bounce in his step, the wolf travels faster, into the almost dead city, to the place the witch calls home (which looks like an utter dump, he needs his human to find a more suitable den for their mate), gets him onto the couch in his living room and after some fiddling, locks the door behind him.

* * *

Shiro was a normal kid once upon a time. Loved the stars, pick flowers for his mother, play in the dirt with his father, go camping with his family on his birthday. Just kid stuff, ya know? None of this werewolf bullshit he’s had to deal with since his 11th. None of this getting locked up once a month and waking up somewhere entirely different, or getting stabbed by witch hunters, or getting saved by random witches in forests.

And most certainly, none of his wolf instincts insisting they go see their court-mate now. 

Shit.

The witch.

Shiro jumps out of bed and runs for his phone. He calls the number he knows by heart and prays to god the owner picks up.

“Hello?”

“Hey, uhhh. What do you do when your wolf has imprinted on someone?” Shiro shuffles his feet nervously.

“You did that?”

“I don’t know what to do!” Shiro groans as he goes looking for his cereal.

“Calm down Shiro and tell me what happened.”

Shiro finally finds it, “Last night, despite locking myself in the safe house, I figured out how to get out again in wolf form. I don’t know how, though, because my memory got fuzzy around then when my instincts took over!” He goes looking for the milk in his fridge, “I was running through the forest when some witch hunters showed up and shot some spears after me.”

“I thought I’d drained all the ones in the area. My apologies.”

“Well you missed 3.” Shiro finds the milk and goes looking for a bowl, “One of them got me in the side with some silver, but I got away before anything worse could happen. Then someone saw me.”

“You were spotted by a human?”

“I don’t know what he was!” Shiro finally finds a spoon and a bowl, “He was… cute. Like stupid cute and pretty. He had eyes like a night creature, purple, not something you find with humans. Somehow,” he takes a deep breathe, “he healed me too. Like, he somehow managed to completely seal up the wound in my side.”

“Based upon the description, it would seem you encountered a witch. What happened after?”

“He passed out.” Shiro poors the cereal and then the milk, “I picked him up and, following his scent, dropped him off inside his house. While travelling though, my instincts seemed to suddenly decided to mate him, I think?”

“Odd. Any idea who this witch is? Their kind don’t normally live in cities. They shouldn’t pass out after healing others by that age, either.”

“No clue.” Shiro takes a bite, “I didn’t memorize his address, but if I tried, I could probably sniff him out.”

“Shiro no. Don’t go near him. If you spend time with him, your inner wolf will become aggressive and try to turn in the day so he can... slobber all over the witch and do various other unsavoury things to him. I don’t think my abilities of persuasion will be able to convince him you don’t exist, or anyone who sees you turn.”

Shiro groans, “Okay, got it, but-”

“I mean it. If you go after him, your instincts will insist on revealing you. Just leave the witch alone and you’ll be fine. Have a wonderful day and good luck.”

“Have a good day then.” Shiro ends the call and sighs.

Okay, so just keep his distance and he won’t do anything stupid. Got it.

That shouldn’t be too hard, he doesn’t even know who this guy is.

* * *

Keith looks at his letters with a grunt of annoyance, " _ Oh this is brilliant. More bills that I can't meet because my job is shit. _ "

He's damn lucky that Hunk lets him sneak a few things at the food court, or he'd probably be heading into work hungry, since he somehow forgot to go scavenging in the forest for a rabbit or berries. At least he's getting his check today and if he's lucky, he might be able to get back home and do some commissions for that little bit of extra cash he needs. Maybe he can get just enough for the water and electricity this month.

Only if he's lucky though and that's not often.

"Hey, sir!"

Keith looks up to see a few people trying to paint the walls of a building, but-

His eyes widen as he notices a bucket of paint falling and about to hit someone on the head. Keith moves without thinking, sprinting for the man and pushing him out of the way just in time for the bucket to avoid his head. Instead it hits the ground, cracking open upon impact and painting Keith's white trousers and red and white boots with black paint.

"What's the big-" The man turns around, removing his headphones as he does, then he stops to stare at Keith.

Keith groans as he looks at his ruined trousers and shoes, " _ Shit, this was a good pair, too. _ "

The man lets out a whimper that gains Keith's attention, so he looks to see his face turning pale, "Oh my God, I am so sorry, if I'd paid attention you wouldn't-"

"Nah, it's cool." Keith shrugs, then looks down at his paint soaked cloths, "I'm an artist, so I'll just add this to my painting clothes."

The man rubs the back of his head and Keith takes in a few seconds to appreciate his face. It's a nice face. Strong jawline, cute nose, full lips, long eyelashes. Pretty steal eyes, a tuft of white hair over them with the rest of his hair dark brown. He's wearing a suit, so he's either on his way to a job interview, just got back from one or he's about to have a fancy date. Or he's someone important in a company, but that type typically have cars to take 'em to and from work or wherever else they need to go. So pretty unlikely.

"Still, I feel bad." The man starts fishing in his pockets, "Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

Keith frowns, "Unlikely. I gotta get to Hunka Bunka Food Court before Lance lectures me about being late."

The man blinks, "You know Lance?"

Keith shrugs, "Sorta. We're not exactly friends, but Hunk let's me steal a few things from the court when I need 'em, so we've kinda learned to tolerate each other."

The man blinks, "Funny, I've been getting food from there since opening day and I'm pretty sure Hunk and I can call each other friends now."

Keith blinks as well, "Weird, never seen you around there and Hunk hasn’t mentioned you either. I'm probably gonna have to get clean before I'm allowed to walk in there though, so I guess I'll see you around."

He turns around-

"Wait." The man puts his hand on his shoulder, making Keith tense. He removes it and then coughs, "There's a clothes shop cross the road. I could pay for something clean, since this is my fault. Then maybe we could get to the Food Court together, since I ehh, was going there anyway?"

Keith turns around to regard him with suspicion. That's  _ awfully _ nice of him, but Keith doesn't have anymore decent jeans and he can’t turn down an opportunity like this.

"Alright." Keith folds his arms and leans more on one leg than the other, "Let's see if any stores will let me in while I'm dripping paint across their lovely floors."

"Thank you." He turns towards one of the stores with a smile, "I'm Takashi Shirogane, by the way, but my friends call me Shiro."

Keith checks for cars and then crosses, "Keith."

* * *

Shiro gulps as he watches Keith walk into one of the changing rooms with a few pairs of jeans and silently tells his wolf to simmer down. No, he does not need to spoil this stranger like crazy as much as he’d love to do just that, he’d be freaked out. He does not need to get him anything skimpy, as much as he’d love to see him in something showing off all his assets that he’s desperately trying not to check out. He  _ especially _ does not need to fucking bow for such a pretty face.

The changing room door opens and Keith walks out in-

In-

“They’re about $30.” Keith murmurs, “Is that okay?”

“Yes.” Shiro fights back a whimper as he stares at Keith’s beautiful, long legs in those tight, tight black jeans, oh God, oh God-

He finds himself falling to his knees and Keith’s panicked face appearing in front of him.

“You okay?” Keith asks, a hand on his left shoulder, another on his right hip.

Shiro nods his head and curses his instincts, “Yeah, just got dizzy for a second.”

Keith helps him get back on his stool, “Weird, you were already sitting down. You shouldn’t have fallen like that.”

Shiro flushes as Keith’s hands linger on his shoulders, “Yeah, I uhh, I know. Sorry.”

Keith shakes his head and stand up, “I’ll go put these back, if you’re getting dizzy while sitting down, you might have hit your head earlier and need medical attention.”

Shiro freezes and waves his hands, “NO, no, no I’m fine Keith, really I promise, I uhh-” Shiro stutters as he tries to word what he’s saying into the right way and think of a good excuse, “it was a joke.”

Keith raises a very, very unimpressed eyebrow at him, “A joke?”

“Uhh, really more of a pun if I’m honest.” Shiro finds himself losing control of his mouth and oh God, he’s going to sound like an idiot, “I was going to say that I’d fallen for you, but you caught me before I could. Would you do me the honour of catching me again?”

Keith flushes and it’s such a pretty shade of pink on such a pretty witch’s skin, “Any-anyway, we should get out of here. I don’t wanna be late to my job.”

Shiro snaps back control, promises to smack himself later and nods, “Okay then, I’ll pay for these and for your other ones to get washed.”

With that, the two leave, Shiro cursing his instincts for being such a creep and contemplating if he should move countries. That sounds like a really good idea right about now.

* * *

As the sunsets, Keith sneaks into the forest again, half hoping to find the wolf and half hoping to be able to make himself some breakfast for tomorrow. He finds the berry patch no problem, having memorized the walk there and brought the containers he needs. He takes only what he needs to survive and tends to the bushes he stole from, giving them some fertilizer as a thank you for their efforts. He can’t remember the words he’s supposed to say to thank the plants for their help, so he hopes his actions are enough.

Now it’s just time for the rabbit hunt. The worst part of the night. He hates having to catch and skin them, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to survive. At least he hopes he'll be able to bring this poor thing peace before he hurts it too badly.

Keith goes to set up the traps for the evening near the places where the rabbits hang out, when he finds a surprising sight.

The wolf is already there, a rabbit in his jaws and a few more of them sprinting off into the distance. It's broken the poor thing's neck, windpipe gone and a bit of blood trickling down it's jaws. It looks hungry. He should leave before it tries to attack him instead.

The wolf turns and they lock eyes. Fuck.

It's tail starts to wag and the wolf runs towards him. Keith finds himself frozen with fear, “ _ Oh no, oh no, what should I do? Should I run? Should I fight it? I don't wanna hurt it and I’ll probably lose in a fight, shit, shit, no time- _ ”

The wolf stops right in front of him and drops the rabbit at his feet.

Keith blinks at him, "What?"

The wolf whines and pushes the rabbit towards him with his snout, then grinning a doggy grin up at Keith. Is it trying to say that this is for him? But, why would this thing hunt for him?

"Is this for me?" Keith points to the rabbit and oh great, he's talking to a wolf of all things.

The dog nods and rolls the rabbit onto his feet. He leans down to pick up the rabbit by the ears. It doesn't look half bad and should make a pretty decent meal for tomorrow morning, if he chooses to eat it then.

His stomach growls.

The wolf barks and runs off. 

Keith watches him disappear into the night and decides to quit while he's ahead. He has no idea what it may be up to and he'd rather not risk finding out. No matter how curious he is.

He turns around and starts talking the path back to his house. Should he skin the rabbit out here? Maybe it'd be for the best, he could give it to the wolf to show he appreciated the gift and he won’t have to throw it in the trash for his garbage man to question. Or would that be bad wolf etiquette to leave nothing but skin behind? Maybe he should do some research, see what he can find out about it and bring something back to show his thanks.

Then again, it could just be a wild animal that's oddly trusting of humans they can magically stitch up wounds in their sides. It could attack him if he feeds it once and then never feeds it again. Or it could start following him around in public, demanding food and trashing the place. There'd be one hell of a panic if something like that happened.

Whatever he decides to do, this rabbit will help him live another day and so did the wolf who caught it for him. So he’ll be grateful for that and hope he doesn’t see the wolf again-

Shit.

The wolf is sitting on his porch, yawning as he guards the door, another dead rabbit at his side. There's a few weeds and plants that look like they could be potential food to go with the rabbit, in surprisingly good shape considering they've likely bin inside a wolf's mouth. 

Looks like he won't be rid of this little guy so easily.

He can't help but smile and walks up to it, "Is this for me too? How'd you find me?"

The wolf wags his tail and bops his nose into Keith's leg. He giggles and puts the rabbit on his other arm, using his right hand to scratch it behind the ear.

"Good boy. Do you want some food too?" Keith pulls the key out to open the door, "I may as well thank you for bring me all this stuff."

The wolf wags his tail even harder, prompting Keith to laugh as he allows it in. He picks up the other rabbit and vegetables to take into the house. He the first thing he does once he’s in the kitchen, is wash the veg clean of wolf spit and dirt. He pulls out the pots and pans for cooking and with a quick search, manages to find out what plants the wolf brought him. He skins the rabbits outside, and the wolf follows him everywhere he goes.

Keith chuckles as the wolf stares at the skin left behind, "Do you want to eat it? I can't imagine the skin is that tasty."

The wolf sits up and starts wagging his tail as he jumps off the porch. He sits on his hind legs, puts his paws to his chest and gives him puppy eyes.

Keith laughs and cuts off a small piece of the skin and throws it at the wolf. He lifts his head to grab it and pants happily after swallowing it. Keith giggles some more and keeps cutting up pieces of the rabbit skin and throwing them at the wolf. It does more tricks and spins as if trying to impress him and by the time he's skinned both rabbits and dealt with the inedible parts, he's almost wheezing with how many times the wolf has made him laugh.

"Wow, you're amazing." Keith invites the wolf back onto the porch, who lays down on the wood, "Who taught you to do all that stuff?" He feels a bit of fear settle into him, "Was it a circus? Has someone been forcing you to do tricks for them?"

That's disgusting, this poor thing-

The wolf shakes it's head and rolls over onto his back. Keith hesitantly pets the wolf's belly, who lays down even more, woofing happily and kicking his back leg. He finds himself smiling and hoping that whatever this wolf has faced, it's nothing truly horrible. 

Keith dutifully gives the wolf more belly rubs and wonders if he should name it.

"So boy," Keith smiles as he pets the wolf's head, "Do you want me to give you a name? Or do you have one already?"

The wolf gives him a big silly grin and Keith's heart swells with affection.

"Okay then, how about Yorak?" Keith suggests.

The wolf almost seems to give him a pointed look.

Keith chuckles nervously, "Heath?"

The wolf makes an inquisitive sound.

Keith looks at his feet, "It was my dad's name."

The wolf coes at him and licks his hand.

Keith smiles and shakes his head, "Thanks, but I'm not sure if Heath is a good name for you. You're a lot more like a dog than a wolf, so maybe I should go with that?"

The wolf woofs and rolls onto his belly. Keith scratches him behind the ear and watches happily as his tail wags.

"How about Rabbit?" Keith murmurs.

The wolf growls. 

Keith laughs and nods, "Okay, another bad choice. I'm not good at naming things, sorry."

The wolf nuzzles into Keith's thigh. He soothes a hand down it's back.

"Okay then, so maybe I should call you Kuro?" Keith suggests.

The wolf perks up and it's eyes almost seem to widen.

Keith feels nerves strike him, "Is it a bad-"

The wolf jumps on him and tackles Keith to the ground and licks his face. Keith can't stop giggling and laughing as the wolf covers him with sober and slime, but he couldn't care less.

"Do you like it then?" Keith grins as he pets the wolf on the ear.

He nods his head.

Keith smiles, "Okay then, Kuro, let me up so I can get cooking."

Kuro rolls off Keith and follows him into the house. Keith takes out the bones of the rabbits, giving one of them to Kuro and cutting up the other to put in a frying pan. He slices the veg and puts them to boil, adding some milk and seasonings to make a stew. Finally, he adds the rabbit pieces and lets them simmer for 30 minutes, while he cleans up and finds a bowl or two for him and his new friend to enjoy.

He pores some for Kuro first and sets it on the ground in front of the wolf, petting him on the head, “Enjoy. You deserve it for helping me out tonight, Kuro.”

Kuro licks his hand and then sticks his snout in the bowl to eat it up. Keith watches him eat, seeming confused when he comes across rabbit in the strew and getting juices all over the floor. Keith laughs and poors himself some, then puts the left overs in a container to keep them safe for a later date.

Keith enjoys his own meal and manages to eat it all. While he washes his and Kuro’s dishes, he notices the time.

4:34am.

“Huh, maybe I’ll catch the sunrise.” Keith hums and turns around, “Thanks, Ku-” He blinks, “ro.”

The wolf is gone, his back door open wide. He hears a howl in the distance and smiles.

* * *

Keith yawns as he sits at the till, watching his fellow employees struggle with the lunch time, high school rush. Working in a shitty chain job, running things through tills for the people who for whatever reason didn’t use the robots, was not the most glamorous position, but it’s his only option when they’re understaffed and he’s got no other alternatives.

He finally manages to get the gang of teens on their way, blocking out their snide comments about their classmates and it looks like things are calming down, with most of the teenagers leaving-

Then one more customer shows up and basically dumps an arm full of some… surprisingly suspicious looking things, but Keith has learned not to question it, it saves him and the customer the embarrassment. So he starts ringing up the lube, a collar, a leash, a good few different types of locks and what he really hopes are toy handcuffs.

“I swear it’s uhhh-”

Keith blinks as he looks up at the surprisingly familiar voice.

It’s Shiro. Blushing and trying to look at anywhere but him. Keith decides to do him a small mercy and starts filling up the bag with the odd assortments of objects and tries to offer him a small smile.

“Hey, it’s okay. People have bought weirder stuff at once, trust me.” Keith shudders, “One time a guy brought a chicken, a shovel, a mallet, some fake feathers lots of different colours and a jar of peanut butter. He said he was going to plant a fake body, dropped me his phone number and left begging to call me up.”

Shiro gulps, “Oh God, I don’t know, this is…” he laughs nervously, “You must be very brave to work in this place, Keith.”

Keith shrugs, “Like I said, I’ve seen worse. I don’t mind and I won’t ask questions, especially when I’m not sure if I want to know.”

Shiro breathes a sigh of relief, “Thank you.”

Keith smiles and then he notices, “Is that a Digimon shirt?”

Shiro turns pink and Keith can feel his excitement bubbling up inside him, “Uhh, yeah?”

“I love Digimon!” Keith finds himself bursting, unable to stop himself, waving his hands around frantically as he talks, “It was the best show as a kid, I wanted to have my own Digimon partner so badly, I made my own and hoped it would come to life, like Takato’s did! What about you, did you ever make your own partner?”

Shiro’s face seems to rest easier, smiling softly, “Yeah, I made a cat Digimon I think I just called Blacky, without a ‘c’ and a ‘y’ instead of ‘i’ and ‘e’, since I thought cats were cool back then. What about you?”

Keith beams, “My partner was kinda like Gatomon, thought I didn’t know it since I didn’t watch the series she was in when I was making her. All her evolutions were based on big cats and I wanted so badly to meet her one day. I loved that Digimon so much.”

Shiro giggles.

Keith finds himself flushing, then slapping his forehead, “Shoot, I’m at work, I can’t be harassing you about humiliating little kid memories right now, uhh, that’ll be-” Keith swallows as he checks the amount, “$36.05.”

Shiro smiles and inserts a card in the card machine, “It’s okay, I think it’s cute.” His face softens and his eyes seem to shift slightly, turning a lighter colour, “I can tell you’re really passionate about it and I’d love to be able to hear more some time, Keith.”

Keith blinks at him in confusion as he confirms the payment, “Y-you would?”

Shiro nods and something glimmers in his eyes, “Do you want to hang out at some point? Get to talk about Digimon and grab a coffee at the same time? I think it’d be fun.”

Keith finds a smile slipping up his face as he kinda frantically looks around for that sticky note pad he keeps around, “Yeah, I, uhh, here!”

He grabs it, a pen, writes his social media information down and hands the sticky to Shiro. Shiro takes the sticky with a smile and then hands over a card. Keith looks it over and finds some social medias and a number. Keith smiles and pockets it as Shiro grabs his bag and leaves.

It’s been so long since he had anything he could really be excited about. He hopes he doesn’t boor Shiro to tears with his yabbering.

* * *

Meanwhile, outside, Shiro bends over, one hand on the wall to keep him standing on his weak knees, the other on his heart, cursing his interfering wolf instincts and how stupidly cute Keith is and the fact he’s going to die from how sweet and adorable this boy is.


	2. All The Things Inbetween That Crumble At Our Feet

Shiro's nervous, "What if he thinks I'm trying to come onto him?"

Allura groans on the other end of the room, "Keith is a good man, Shiro. If he thinks that, then he won’t mind too much or be uncomfortable with you."

"What if he doesn't want me to flirt with him, you idiot?" Shiro groans, "I don't wanna freak him out, it's just coffee we're getting after all."

"Coffee in the movies means sex, doesn't it?" Allura enquirers.

Shiro flushes red, "No!"

Allura huffs and then Shiro finds himself discarding his okay jeans for his hot-damn jeans, "No."

"Yes." Allura makes him put them on, "You like him, so you should look attractive for him if you’re so insistent on seeing him despite my warnings about your instincts getting the better of you. And if your court mate does not want to be courted, then you can just become friends."

Shiro groans, "No, I'm not going out in public like this, not to see him."

Allura turns her head to the clock, "You do not have time to change."

Shit. He's right.

Shiro groans, grabs a shirt of his choosing and hopes he won't look like a hot mess around Keith.

It's just coffee.

* * *

"Are you sure you watched anything but Digimon when you were a kid?" Shiro chuckles as he watches Keith wander around the con, "You look like you're trying to find a piece of gold in a bucket full of silver."

Keith huffs, "Of course I watched other things when I was a kid, but Digimon was my favorite! My dad promised me every Saturday morning we'd enjoy an episode before I went to get babysat and he went to the station." He holds close the Terriermon plushie he brought with him while cosplaying Henry Wong with a Trans Pride Flag on his shoulders, "We had memories together, didn't we Terriermon?"

"Didn't you say you liked Guilmon best?" Shiro smiles fondly.

Keith shrugs, "Yeah, but my dad got confused and got me Terriermon instead on my birthday, so he's special to me too. Kinda more, actually."

Shiro smiles in amusement, then watches as Keith's eyes light up.

"Shiro, come on!" Keith grabs his wrist and drags him off, giggling up a storm, "There's Bakugan here!"

Shiro finds himself being designated as the walking carrier bag for the day, but he doesn't mind. He'd rather carry it all than have Keith tripping over himself in his excitement. He's just glad Keith trusts him like this.

* * *

Keith laughs when he sees the wolf come running up to him, "Kuro!"

Shiro gives him a big smile and jumps up onto the porch happily, so glad to be with Keith again. Keith laughs and notices something in his mouth.

"What's this?" Keith puts his mouth under Shiro's jaw, who dumps what he found in his hand, "What are these for?"

They're beautiful flowers, that's for sure. A mix of giant daisies, dandelions, bluebells and buttercups. Shiro had been picking them all evening before his fingers turned to claws and he couldn't do it anymore. He hopes Keith will like them.

"Are these for me?" Keith blinks at the wolf in surprise.

Shiro barks and gives a doggy grin, wagging his tail as he does, hoping Keith will get the message.

Keith smiles softly and pets his head, "Hehe, thanks."

Shiro goes boneless in his arms and Keith gently rolls him over so he can rub his tummy. He does that for a bit, then goes inside, much to Shiro's displeasure, but he waits. Then Keith comes back out and starts picking the daisies in his yard. Shiro watches him curiously as he works and wonders what Keith could be doing.

Keith turns around and displays his work, "A daisy chain for my favorite wolf."

Shiro looks at it in awe and feels his heart swell. He’ll keep it safe on the journey back and press the flowers so he can keep them forever.

* * *

Keith looks around the restaurant, proudly sporting a ‘Kiss My Aspergers’ shirt, then focuses on the menu again, "Huh, things look pretty good. I haven't been here before though, so I'm not sure what to order."

Shiro gulps, unable to take his eyes off Keith's pretty, pretty face that looks even cuter coupled with the shirt, "Hey, I think you should try one of the stakes maybe? They can be pretty tasty, thought a little messy."

Keith hums as he looks at Shiro, "They're kinda pricey, too. Maybe I'll just go for an order of fries."

Shiro’s instincts insist in making sure Keith eats well, but then reminds himself that he can't force him to eat anything he isn't up for.

Shiro opens his mouth, "Well, if you're that hungry, I can pay for it."

Keith gives him a look of shock, "Are you sure?"

Shiro flushes, swallows and nods, "Uh, yeah, why wouldn't I? Not that I don't think you can pay or anything, but this is my idea, I should be the one to pay."

Keith narrows his eyes, "It's my food though. And I eat a lot. Your wallet will be hurting."

Shiro grins, "A pain worth bearing for you."

Keith flushes and okay, so maybe that's not too bad a sight so long as he stops embarrassing himself.

* * *

Shiro shudders in the cold, rubbing his arms, "Why are we getting the chills this early in the year? It's not even August yet."

Keith blinks and looks at his arms. He unzips his jacket and pulls his sleeves out of the arms. He puts it on Shiro's shoulders and it's kind of hilariously small on him, but…

Shiro's looking at him like he doesn't know what to do, "Keith."

Keith smiles and ties the strings for his hood around Shiro's neck, "I'm feeling like a furnace, so you can use it if you want. Does it help?"

Shiro beams, "It's wonderful. Thank you."

Keith finds himself smiling and the two continue to walk, making their way through the park with the sun shining down, trying to warm them more. Not that Keith needs anymore warmth. He's glad his jacket is sorta helping Shiro, though it's clearly not providing much cover against the bitter winds. Is there anything he can do?

Keith flushes as an idea comes to mind and he hesitantly reaches out for Shiro's hand. Shiro stiffens a bit at the slightest contact, then smiles softly at the ground and takes Keith's hand.

Keith smiles and they're both no longer cold.

* * *

Keith sighs as he looks out at the world around him, "It's a beautiful night, I wish it would never end."

Shiro looks at him, under the stars and in a wide open plain of beautiful flowers and can't agree more.

Keith blinks and then turns to Shiro, "Hey, Kuro, I could make that into a song!"

Shiro starts wagging his tail and rejoices, he loves it when Keith sings. Keith stands up and Shiro shoots off into the forest. He looks around, finds a stick and then rushes back with it in his mouth. He looks up at Keith, trying to offer it to him.

Keith laughs and takes it, "Okay then, we can play fetch while I sing."

Okay, not the original plan, but it works.

Keith starts singing and throwing the stick as he does. Shiro chases it every time while he keeps an ear out for Keith's voice. It's fun and by the end of the night, Keith is on his way back to the house and shivering.

"Shiro was right, it is getting colder, huh." Keith murmurs.

Shiro hopes Keith won't get sick, then he has an idea. He nuzzles up against Keith, who hugs him as they walk. Then he gets Keith on his back. Keith laughs in surprise and grips his fur close as Shiro travels.

Keith hums and lays down against him, "You're so warm."

Shiro flushes under his fur.

* * *

Shiro gulps at the look Keith shoots him when he shows up at their usual restaurant, "What?"

Keith stares at him like he did something wrong, "You ride a motorcycle."

Shiro then realizes he may have been driving a little less safely than normal because, "It's fast and I wanted to see you."

Keith flushes and shakes his head, "No need to be reckless though. You weren't right?"

Shiro shakes his hands, "No, no I promise I was very careful."

Keith gives him a critical once over and sighs, "Alright. Just... you're a good friend Shiro. I don't wanna lose you."

Shiro feels his heart swell, "You won't. I promise."

Keith smiles slightly, "I better not. I don't have that many friends."

Shiro's heart bleeds for him, " _ I must hug him. _ "

No, you know he doesn't like them a lot. Shiro knows that and so should his instincts, damn it.

But nope, oh no, Shiro's taking Keith's hand, then goes to wrap an arm around Keith's shoulders, who doesn't resist and... actually seems to be pulling him closer with their linked hands? Keith wraps an arm around Shiro’s lower back and nuzzles into his neck.

"You won't ever lose me, Keith." Shiro promises, "I'm here."

Keith nods and the werewolf breathes easier. 

* * *

Keith’s laugh sounds like bells as he looks up at the planetarium starry sky, “Shiro, this is amazing!”

Shiro smiles and can’t take his eyes off the brightest star in the room, “Yeah. Amazing.”

Keith runs around, naming every star he manages to identify, drawing the constellations and telling their stories in a excited firestorm of enthusiasm. It’s like when he talks about Digimon. It’s like he just, comes alive.

Shiro watchs Keith and thinks, “Can I kiss you?”

Keith stops.

Shiro flushes so red and stands up, realizing he said that out loud, “Sorry, I’ll just-go!”

Shiro turns around to start running-

“Wait.” Keith grabs his wrist gently, “Did you mean it?”

Shiro turns around slowly and nods, “Yeah.”

Keith smiles and rests a hand on his shoulder, “You may.”

Shiro stares in shock as Keith leans up towards him. Shiro leans down, resting a hand on Keith’s hip. Keith smiles at him and curls his fingers around the back of Shiro’s neck, rubbing gently. Shiro smiles hesitantly and closes his eyes as Keith does the same.

Their lips meet hesitantly, in a soft and gentle kiss. It’s perfect.

* * *

Shiro had practically sprinted to Keith's house as soon as he'd parked the car, humans seeing him be damned, he needed to see his court mate, his court mate had asked him to spend the night and his stupid human side said no to that request. So it's up to him to go to his court mate.

Keith is just tying his shoes when Shiro arrives, but he's too excited to care and tackles him. Keith cries out in shock and laughter as Shiro licks his face, covering his court mate in affection and love he so clearly deserves.

"What's gotten into you, boy?" Keith chuckles, petting the back of his neck.

Shiro pants happily and wish he could tell Keith he loves him.

Keith sighs dreamily and looks up at the stars, "A boy I really like kissed me today, Kuro. I'm so happy."

Shiro snickers and his tail wags because 'that boy is me'.

Keith then hugs him suddenly, wrapping his arms around his neck and holding on for dear life, "Ohhh, I wish he didn't work so late. Not that I'm not happy to see you, Kuro, but I miss him. I bet you two would be friends if you met."

Shiro can't help but laugh.

* * *

From the table behind them there's laughter, "Well, if it isn't Keith."

Shiro looks away from Keith in surprise to see three men about Keith's age leering at them.

Keith visibly bristles, "Hi, James."

The brunette in the middle coos, "Wow, a civil greeting, I’m honoured. Is this beefcake the reason why? Don’t wanna scare off your one chance to get some tail?"

The others snicker behind him and Keith shrinks in on himself, "Just leave us alone, James, we’ll stay on one side of the diner and you can stay on the other."

James smirks, “But what’s the fun in that?”

Shiro doesn't like this. Not one bit, "Do you wanna leave, Keith?"

"Aww, running away so soon?" James laughs, "Afraid to be seen in public with the loser who has major anger management issues? I can't blame you, he was a bit of a psycho in high school."

Shiro sees Keith visibly flinch at that and sends him a pleading look, "Ignore them Shiro, please."

James scoffs, "I'm sorry, but I'm pretty sure psychos don't get to order their friends around. Especially when they shouldn’t be out of their looney bins, a danger to themselves and the public."

Shiro snaps and stands up, instincts raging as he shoves James away, "Keith can decide for himself where he goes and what he does without facing a fucking bully like you. Now, if you don't mind, get a life and call the national helpline to learn how to be a decent human being."

Shiro grabs Keith without thinking about it, tucking him into his side so he doesn't have to see them as they leave. Keith’s breathing harshly makes him want to go in there and rip their hearts out of their chests, but this is not the time. Keith needs him.

* * *

Keith lets out a small sigh as they sit under the cover of the trees, wishing there was the darkness of night to protect him from this rather than just the sunset sky, "My parents died when I was little and I got passed around foster homes a lot."

Shiro sits there at his side, steadfast and strong, an anchor he desperately needs as he feels like he's going to fall apart. He rubs circles into his arm, soothing and repetitive and staring at the gaps of light in the trees is easier than looking at him. 

"My Mom, she... Dad never had us visit her grave, but he said she was always in the stars, protecting us." Keith gulps, noticing that the gaps between the leaves look like stars on a dark green sky, "I kinda assumed she was dead from that, honestly. Then a few years later, well..."

"You mentioned he was a firefighter, right?" Shiro offers tentatively.

Keith nods, "Yeah. A hero who just wanted to protect others, even if he risked himself. The others told him not to go into the building, but there was no stopping him when he thought he could still save someone."

Shiro smiles and kisses his temple, "Sounds like someone I know."

Keith sighs, “About James-”

Shiro snarls, actually snarls and wraps his arms around Keith, pulling him in tight, “I don’t care what the fucker has to say about you. All I care about is you being okay.”

Keith sniffles and buries his face in Shiro’s shoulder. Somehow, it feels like he will be.

* * *

Shiro's stalking the city, trying to get to Keith's house for a shortcut when he hears it.

"James? What are you doing out here?"

Shiro goes on alert as he senses... something in the air. He doesn't like it.

"I'm here to do what I should've ages ago."

Oh no, no, not the Witch Hunters, not now!

"Why do you have a gun?! What the hell did I do to you that made you hate me so much? Was that one punch really that big of a thing?!"

NO, no, no!

Shiro barrels down the ally and when he sees a witch hunter's robes blocking his entrance, he snarls as he gains speed. He charges right through the witch hunter's legs, making him drop his weapon in the process.

"Kuro!" Keith cries out.

Shiro turns to see James turning to point a gun at him and Keith lashing out to take it from his hands. Shiro charges them as they battle and tackles James as Keith pulls the gun from his hands. He snarls and drools in James' terrified face, his own hunter robes falling off to reveal a mark on his forehead.

Shit, a blessing. He needs to get Keith out of here before the hunters do the same to him.

Shiro grabs Keith's shirt between his jaws and starts running, getting Keith on his back as they leave. Shiro manages to get them confused enough that he knows they aren't following them by the time he reaches the forest.

Keith hugs him, "He was going to kill me. I, I know he was."

Shiro sits down and as Keith slides off his back, he puts his paws on Keith's shoulder and licks his forehead. Keith falls into his chest, sobbing and trembling. Shiro watches as the moon begins to set and a plan forms in his mind.

It’s payback.

* * *

Shiro doesn't think when he sends out a quick search on the name Keith gave him last night. It takes nothing at all to find the little cockroach. James Griffins, a pretty good cadet at the Galaxy Garrison before he was expelled along with another boy due to disciplinary issues. It makes him sick knowing this little shit hurt Keith so long ago and is still hurting him now. He's going to make him pay.

"Allura?" He calls.

The vampire picks up, "What an early call Shiro. Or is it still the wolf in control?"

The werewolf prepares an email, "I need you to do me a favor."

"You know I'm not one for revenge plots, wolf." Allura tuts, "Besides, I have a pet to domesticate. I don't have time for hunting."

"Oh? Not even to take out someone with a witch hunter's blessing." Shiro taunts.

Allura is silent for a while, "I'm listening."

"No need. I have already emailed you his details." Shiro closes the laptop, "Get it done fast enough and I can see about rounding up the other witch hunters who keep stealing your meals."

Allura licks her lips, "Done."

Shiro groans, "Just, don't kill him or anything. Keith'll feel bad if he finds out through national news or something that he's dead."

Allura chuckles, "Oh don't worry. I'll make sure he disappears quietly. No one will know. Not even him."

Shiro nods, "Thank you, Allura."

Allura hums, "Of course. It's not often you and your wolf can agree after all."

* * *

Shiro looks at Keith in shock, "You really trust me to ride this thing and not crash? I thought you hated motorcycles?"

Keith shrugs as he gets the leather jacket around his shoulders, "I kinda do. They're loud and obnoxious and they're not very safe. But you're not loud or obnoxious and I guess I can trust you. So why not?"

Shiro feels part of his heart swell as he revs the engine for show, "Okay then, your funeral."

Keith settles into the back of the bike and wraps his arms around Shiro's waist, "You mean our funeral if you crash like an idiot."

Shiro laughs and pats Keith's hands, "I won't crash like an idiot, Keith. I promise you'll live to see where I wanna take you."

Keith huffs against his neck and Shiro fights back a moan at the wonderful contact, "I know. Like I said, I trust you Shiro. And I guess dying with you wouldn't be the worst thing to ever happen to me."

Shiro laughs and revs the engine again, "Well hold on tight, because I get the feeling, you like it fast."

They shoot off like rockets and not once is Keith afraid.

* * *

Keith laughs and hollers as they spiral through the forest, "Wahoo!"

Shiro watches him have fun with pride swelling in his chest. His court mate is happy. His court mate is wild and free and Keith wouldn't want him to be anything else. No witch hunters, thanks to Allura's fine work.

Just a forest and it's creatures going about the cycle of their times.

"This is amazing!" Keith shouts over the wind.

Shiro can't help but agreeing. His speed and running is one of the few things he enjoys about being a werewolf. The freedom to just run and run and run until the sun rises and it's back to being what he was born to be. Shiro's glad he can share this freedom with his court mate. He's glad his silly human side understands it.

Shiro hits a patch of seeding dandelions and the two watch in awe as the dandelions fly up, up and away into the sky as they hit them.

"You know, you can make wishes on these!" Keith shouts, "I wish we could do this again! And again and again no matter what!"

Shiro howls in agreement while making that same wish for them.

* * *

Keith slumps against his side, the movie still playing on the cinema. Shiro finds himself flushing as he watches the lights play across Keith's pretty, pretty face.

Shiro wraps an arm around his shoulders to keep him there, " _ I should take him home. He needs to rest. _ "

After the movie, though. For now, he'll just enjoy cuddles with his boyfriend. He loves cuddling Keith. He's wonderful and smells so good. He's so soft to hold. He doesn't understand how anyone could ever think of him as psycho or weird. He's perfect.

He closes his eyes to take his boyfriend in more and when he opens them, the cleaner is poking them.

"Sorry love birds but the movie finished a while ago." She smiles softly, "You two are gonna need a cab if you're sleeping in the middle of the day like this."

Shiro shakes his head and says quietly, "No, it's alright ma'am. I promise I'll get us home okay. Please don't wake him?"

The lady smiles, "Alright. Be careful. You love him, right?"

Shiro nods.

The lady jumps to a different set of chairs, "Then be good to him."

* * *

Keith sings under his breath as Shiro naps against his side. He doesn’t mind their dates in the park dissolving into Shiro sleeping on his shoulder. He knows that his night hours are getting rougher and the fact that he’d make the effort to get to their dates at all instead of catching up on sleep means a lot. He just hopes he’s not pushing himself.

“I didn’t know you sang.” Shiro murmurs, shifting closer.

Keith chuckles and goes to stroke his fingers through Shiro’s hair, “Did I wake you?”

“You should’ve.” Shiro tires to force his eyes open, “Sorry I’m being a boring boyfriend.”

“You’re not and if your night shifts are being this hard on you, I don’t mind if you need to sleep on me for our dates.” Keith presses a kiss to his forehead, “If you ever need to cancel, you can do that too.”

Shiro huffs and throws an arm across Keith’s belly, “But then I wouldn’t get to hug my favourite pillow.”

Keith laughs, “Maybe you should invite me to your place at some point then. We can take naps together.”

Shiro hums, “That sounds nice.”

Keith looks up at the sky and can’t help but agree, “It’s a date then.”

* * *

Shiro never meant to spend the amount of time he did hunting rabbits, but it too late now. Hopefully Keith's gathered his berries for the night and the two of them can just enjoy a meal together.

But when he gets back to the porch, he finds a much more precious sight.

Keith curled up against the wood, a blanket below and above him, a few baskets of berries at his side and a lamb stick there too. He looks peaceful, but not quite content.

Shiro trots up to him, setting the rabbit he found to the side and licks Keith's nose.

Keith starts to smile and Shiro smiles too. He climbs onto the deck and nuzzles his way under one of Keith's arms. He settles in for a night shared with Keith and can't help but be grateful.

Even if when he's human he can't have this, but in stolen afternoon naps, he's glad he can have this as a wolf. Keith curled up next to him and cuddling up more. He should carry him to bed, but he doesn't want to wake him. He should start going soon, since the moon's almost fallen.

But he can't. Not yet.

So Shiro stays and cuddles Keith until he’s got no choice.

* * *

Shiro whimpers as he watches Keith run towards him, " _ I need to kiss him. _ "

Shiro gulps.

"Shiro!" Keith greets as he runs up to them, a sweaty, wonderful, hot mess with a towel around his neck, "I didn't expect to see you today."

"You either." Shiro flushes.

Keith blinks and puts a hand on his cheek, "You okay? You feel warm, like you're getting sunburn."

Shiro puts his hand over Keith’s hand and kisses his wrist, "The only burn I feel is the one in my heart when you're around, Keith."

Keith flushes and laughs, "You dork. How do you know how to say that stuff?"

Shiro links fingers with Keith and starts leading him towards the trees in the park, a small patch of them they could hide in for some privacy, "I don't, I just make it up as I go and hope I'm cool."

Keith smiles, completely oblivious as the shadows fall over his face, "You're already cool, Shiro, you don't have to try for me."

Shiro smiles, "That's good."

He puts a hand on Keith's waist and spins them around, making Keith gently hit a tree. Keith gasps as Shiro leans in.

"I hope you still think I'm cool when I'm shoving my tongue down your throat, if that's okay." Shiro stares at Keith intensely.

Keith nods, "Please do."

They don't leave the trees for a while.

* * *

Keith laughs as they eat ice cream at the beach, Shiro getting some on his nose. He kisses it off and the two smile at one another.

“I’m really glad we’re getting to spend time together like this.” Keith snuggles up against Shiro, who leans his head on Keith’s.

“Me too, baby.” Shiro wraps an arm around Keith’s waist.

Keith hums happily and closes his eyes. Nothing could spoil this. Noth-

A shrill ringtone cuts through the air, making them jerk away from each other. Shiro groans and pulls his phone out of his bag.

“What’s up, Allura? I’m kinda of busy right no-” His eyes widen and then he groans and hunches over, “Seriously?” Shiro nods and sighs, “Alright, on my way.”

He hangs up.

Keith looks him over in concern, “What’s wrong?”

Shiro turns to him and smiles sadly, “I’m afraid my boss wants me working the evening shift along with the night one, so apparently the date’s cancelled though she knows I promised you-”

Keith smiles and shakes his head, “No, it’s fine. I know how important your job is for you. You’ll do great.”

Shiro kisses him on the forehead, “I’ll drive you back to your house.”

Keith nods and fights the ache in his heart that wants to scream ‘why not let me drive you to your work, just so I can be with you a little longer’. He knows Shiro isn’t comfortable sharing that part of himself yet.

Hopefully one day.

* * *

Shiro snarls.

Allura hushes him, "The Witch Hunters will know you're here protecting him if you're noisy like that. They'll really think he's a witch if a werewolf shows up to protect him."

Lance huffs next to her, "Like they wouldn't be investigating his place if they weren't already certain that he was. Either way, Shiro, this is a stealth mission, so be quiet."

Shiro is tempted to snarl louder, but he knows they're right. He can't risk the safety of his court mate. Not when that brat James had revealed that there were more witch hunters looking to launch an investigation into Keith's house to see if he had any powers. It made him sick.

As they crouched below the bushes and they watched Keith settle in for the night, the sound of a car filled the forest. Shit, they're here. 

A jeep drives up, a few feet away from Keith's house, but out of sight of all the windows. Shit, they plan to sneak up on him. They're going to hurt his court mate.

Shiro looks to Allura, who nods and bares her fangs, "Go."

Shiro nods.

No one touches his court mate and lives to tell the tale.

* * *

Allura sighs, "Did you really expect anything different to happen to you?"

Shiro groans as he lays in bed, stitches in his side and his right arm broken, "I know."

"Seriously dude, I've never seen you fight like that." Lance states, "Like, it was scary even from my view point and I knew you weren't gonna hurt me!" He sweats, "You weren't right?"

Shiro looks up at the roof, "Who knows with the wolf getting stronger. It was a full moon, so he had better control of that form than I did."

Lance sweats, "Right, but he wouldn't kill me, right? I mean, he's basically you but wolfy. You wouldn't kill me."

Allura finishes tying up the bandages, "Either way, I'd suggest talking to Keith about heal-"

"No." Shiro gives her a glare, "He doesn't even know he's a witch, if he did, he would have been able to tell I'm a werewolf."

"Well, it's either walk around with a broken arm, at the mercy of the witch hunters who are crawling into the city for restocking their supplies at this time of yeah." Lance holds up a finger and then another one, "Or travelling into the distant countryside and hoping the first witch you see won't kill you." 

Shiro looks at his fists in his lap.

* * *

Keith yawns as he wakes up and looks to his phone, when it gives a ping. It's a message from Shiro! Hopefully they can pick up after their interup-

" _ Sorry, but I got an injury in work last night and won't be able to make it to our usual meet up today. _ "

Keith feels his heart sink.

" _ That's okay, I hope you get better soon. Where's your place, could I come see you? _ "

" _ No, it's alright. I've got a friend coming over to help make sure I don't starve, so it's okay. Just have a good day at work, babe. _ "

Keith feels his heart sink deeper.

" _ Okay. Let me know when you feel better. I'll miss you. _ "

* * *

Keith stares out at the forest, smiling slightly when his favourite wolf shows up, “Hey, boy-”

He gasps as he looks at his from leg. It’s broken.

Keith jumps down to meet Kuro at the porch, “Oh my God, what happened?”

Kuro whimpers and sits down. Keith gently takes the arm into his fingers and feels for the trauma. He gets a flash of someone or something crushing it, then starts to heal it. Please, please let him be okay…

It takes a while, but Keith manages to heal Kuro’s front leg. He feels faint afterwards, but Kuro gives him puppy kisses and he thinks he’ll be okay.

Keith sighs and leans against the wolf, “I didn’t have the best day today, boy.”

Kuro whimpers, as if to ask what happened. So Keith tells him.

* * *

Shiro hates himself. He official hates himself for making Keith feel abandoned, but he’s got a fucking company to run and paperwork to go through. After hearing him talking that night, he wants nothing more than to quit his job and run to him. But he can’t because that won’t help and he’ll probably do something he regrets if he did that.

Like spout out he’s a werewolf, or he’s in love with Keith, or something equality as horrifying to say.

He still feels bad for showing up and getting Keith to heal him when he promised himself he wouldn’t. He knows Keith’s limits, but it still feels wrong to have made him worry like that. Maybe he should’ve at least visited him after his injury. But then Keith, clever as he is, would’ve probably figured out that someone else had broken his arm rather than it just being a work accident. Knowing him, he would’ve tried to heal him too and that’s the last thing he wanted for Keith.

Shiro sighs and looks out the window. He’s getting a headache just thinking about this.

Fuck it, he’s texting Keith to-

“Sir, there’s an issue in financing!” His assistant barges in, skittish and worried.

Shiro groans and nods, “Alright, what happened?”

* * *

Keith heaves the potatoes out of the ground, calling out in shock as he falls on his ass. Ugh, he’s getting a little tired of this. But at least he’s got some food for tomorrow.

“Thank you for helping me, Keith.” Sam Holt calls from his own porch, sitting on the rocking chair with a mug of tea.

Keith wipes the sweat from his forehead, “It’s no trouble, I should be thanking you for letting me take a few for my dinner.”

Sam smiles, “It’s the least I can do when you did this without any pay. If you ever need some extra food, you’re welcome to come again.”

Keith nods, “I might, since my days seem to be freeing up.”

Sam blinks, “Oh, school’s out?”

Keith laughs, “Nope. My partner hasn’t had as much free time for me anymore.”

“Ahh, I see.” Sam nods sagely, “I’m sure things will work out in your favour, Keith. If your partner truly cares for you and wants things to work, they’ll try. Have faith.”

“I will.” Keith nods, “Thank you.”

Sam smiles.

* * *

“Awww, what’s wrong little wolf?” The stupid fucking witch hunter giggles, “Cat got your tongue?”

Shiro growls, low and threateningly from within his cage, angry with the hunter for capturing him and angry with himself for not getting to Keith.

“I don’t understand how my colleagues could have such trouble with you and your friends.” He gestures over his shoulder towards where Lance and Allura have a ring of garlic flowers around their necks, “Really, it’s embarrassing to know they got so badly beaten by beasts like you.”

Allura sneezes as she tries to get away from the flowers, “Just you wait, you little-”

She violently sneezes this time, having to lean against Lance after that.

The hunter laughs, “What are you going to do to me in that state? Bite me?”

“They won’t.”

That’s when Shiro sees it. The wendigo.

“But I will.”

The hunter doesn’t get the chance to scream before he’s eaten alive.

* * *

Shiro sighs in relief, “Thanks for saving us back there, Pidge.”

She laughs, bright and happy, not at all like the monster she becomes at nightfall, “Not a problem, but seriously man. It was such an obvious trap.”

Shiro shrugs, “I did what I could convince so Keith would be safer.”

Pidge rolls her eyes, “Ahh yes, the power of love and all that shebaz. Let me ask you something though. When was the last time you went on a date with him?”

Shiro’s eyes widen as he brings up his phone. Lance and Allura chuckle on the kitchen counter.

“He’s been pretty preoccupied with all the hunters zeroing in on Keith, that he forgot to talk to Keith for the last few weeks unless Keith talked to him first.” Lance shrugs, “If I were Keith, I’d be worried that my man was ignoring me right about now.”

Shiro’s eyes pop as he reads over the messages he and Keith had exchanged and the newest ones he sent.

“ _Meet me whenever you can please. I just, wanna talk._ ”

Oh shit. Shiro’s in the dog house.


	3. The Truth Has A Tail

Keith watches as the clock on the wall ticks forever on and his mug of coffee gets colder. He doesn’t even like coffee, but he didn’t want to just sit there and look like he was waiting for the world to stop turning. Thought it does feel like it has a little.

He shakes his head. Get it together Keith, just because Shiro’s work has been busy doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world.

“Hey.”

Keith looks up to see, “James.”

James holds up a hand, “I just wanna talk.”

Keith scoffs and stands up, “If you want the table, you can have it. Just stop bothering me, alright?”

“You always have to assume the worst about me, don’t you?” James grumbles.

Keith turns to him, “You haven’t shown me anything but your worst. What else am I to assume, that you’re some misunderstood puppy under that?”

James growls, “Maybe I am-”

“It doesn’t matter what you are, James.” Keith shoulders his bag and turns around, “What matters is what you do. You’ve done nothing but bully me and I’m sick of it. If you try to talk to me again, I’ll get a restraining order on you.”

Keith heads for the entrance-

“The question is,” James turns around, “do you know what you are, Kogane?”

Keith smirks, “A simple artist. Nothing more and nothing less.”

He leaves and pulls out his phone. He messages Shiro, “ _ James crashed the party, so if you still wanna meet up, I’m planning on heading for the park for a few hours of sketching. _ ”

Surprisingly, he got a message back right away.

“ _ I’m not far from the cafe, do you wanna walk there together? _ ”

Keith smiles, “ _ Okay, but I’m not hanging out in front encase James sees me. I won’t be far though. _ ”

“ _ I’m coming. _ ”

Keith walks towards the end of the street, away from the cafe, but still in it’s sight. He really, really hopes Shiro shows up. He just wants to understand if it really has just been work or if there’s something he’s done to upset him. He wants to talk it through and just figure out if they’re okay.

“Keith!”

Shiro runs down the street towards him and Keith can’t help but smile. He looks like a hot mess.

Shiro bends over panting, then straightens, “So, how are you?”

Keith laughs and pulls out his water bottle, “I’m wonderful, how are you hot stuff?”

Shiro flushes as he takes grateful sips of the water, pausing for a moment, “Good.”

Keith watches him drink for a while, “So, no more calls from work to interrupt?”

Shiro pulls his phone out of his pocket and presses a few buttons, “Not anymore. I know I haven’t been the best boyfriend lately Keith, so if there’s anything I can do to make up for it, I will.”

Keith shakes his head and holds out his hand. Why was he worried again when he’s dating a dork? “Spending time together would be enough. I don’t need anything but that.”

Shiro seems to stare at him in awe, then takes his hand and smiles, “Okay then. But I wanna spoil you to make up for it, so, what do you want to do?”

Keith looks around and spies the forest beyond the the town where he goes each night for good, “Hike for a while?”

Shiro is quiet for a moment, “Sure. Being in the forest would be pretty nice.”

* * *

Shiro drives them to Keith’s house and the two of them hit the forest. With the trees sheltering them from the sun and Keith’s voice explaining each of the plants they pass and the stories he has to tell, it’s easy to lose track of time. To wish the sun would never set so he could listen to Keith talk and hold his hand as they cross streams and mini ravines.

“ _ Tell him the truth, stupid. _ ” Shiro thinks, “ _ Tell him what you are and what he is. Rut’s going to hit with the full moon at its height tonight and if I’m with him for much longer, I’ll do something I’ll regret. I should stop being a coward. _ ”

Shiro watches as Keith splashes his face with crystal clear water from the stream and turns to him with wet bangs and a sunshine smile. He feels his heart well up with too many emotions to bare.

“Keith.” Shiro calls.

Keith blinks and stands up, “Is something wrong?”

He can’t do this. Keith’s gonna hate him. But… “There’s something I need to tell you about me.”

Keith tilts his head in confusion, “Okay, tell me what’s up.”

Shiro takes a deep breathe, “It’s, hard to explain, but promise you won’t… run away screaming or ignore me or anything.”

Keith reaches his hand out and places it on Shiro’s shoulder, “I’ve got your back, whatever it is, I promise I won’t leave you for it. Unless you’ve been stalking me and plan to keep me tied up in your basement for forever more, having grown obsessed with me.”

“Oh my God, no!” Shiro groans into his hands, “No, I’d never do that to you, Keith.”

Keith smiles, “Then we’re good.” He trails his hand down Shiro’s arm and takes his hand, “Tell me.”

“Okay.” Shiro takes a breathe and blurts, “I’m a werewolf.”

“Cool.” Keith says.

Shiro stares at him for a moment. Keith’s not looking at him any different. His grip on his hand hasn’t changed and the sun’s setting behind him.

“You, believe me?” Shiro’s eyes bug out.

Keith nods, “Yeah, sure I mean… I kinda have weird healing powers of my own, so why not a werewolf?”

Shiro gulps, “I…” he mumbles, “I know.”

Keith blinks, “You know I can…” His eyes widen, “Oh my God, are you Kuro?”

Shiro flushes bright red and nods, “I, uhh, never intended to stay with you every night. But the wolf, he…”

“He what?” Keith grabs Shiro’s other hand gently.

Shiro groans and lowers his head, “He, I, it gets confusing to tell the difference between me and my instincts sometimes, but. I guess I decided I want to make you my mate and I kinda really liked you after a few months of being friends and dating.”

Keith’s silent for a while, “Oh.”

Shiro swallows heavily, “I, uhh. I’m also about to go into rut. Which makes me a horny mess in wolf form, so I’ll try to stop the nightly visits, to save you from having to fight off a horny wolf.”

Keith takes a deep breathe and Shiro prepares to regret all of his life choices that lead up to this moment, “Will you get sick if you don’t have sex?”

“What, no!” Shiro straights up and waves his hands all over the place, face red, “He’ll, uhhh, I’ll just be really horny and may be a little bit too pushy and stuff. Just. Yeah. No sickness or anything bad, just discomfort at worse.”

Keith nods, face such a pretty shade of pink, “Okay then. How comfortable are you with having sex with me?”

Shiro’s brain short circuits, “Wha-”

“I’m asking because I…” Keith gulps and his face turns red, “I want to have sex with you. Even if you’re all furry and have weird biology or whatever.” 

He looks at his shoes and oh dear God, Shiro’s died and gone to heaven right, how can he be so cute? 

Keith looks at him with a shocking amount of determination suddenly and grabs his hands again, “Shiro, I love you.”

Shiro gasps, feeling like the words had shot through his chest.

“I want this to work and if I get the bonus of having a werewolf boyfriend by getting to date you then,” Keith shrugs and yep, Shiro is definitely in heaven, “yeah. Let’s fuck through your rut or whatever. Warning though.” Keith laughs nervous, “I don’t think I’ll be able to get it up or anything.”

Shiro blinks, finding a thread of reality and latching onto it, “If this is about you being-”

“No, it’s not that, specifically!” Keith waves a hand, “I just… I sometimes wonder if I was born with bits that are inherently meant to stay dry even when I’m horny because I’m not meant to have sex there.”

Shiro hums and feels himself flush as a thought enters his mind, “ _ Be cool, be cool, don’t freak him out with this, please don’t stammer and look like an ass. _ ”

“Well, ya see. When I’m in rut, I end up releasing pheromones that can make potential partners more receptive to…” He leans in close to Keith’s wide eyed expression and hopes to God he sounds sexy, “intimacy. It’ll probably make you wet and I know my wolf would sooner rip his own ass on a dildo than hurt you.” Keith’s eyes seem utterly fixated on his mouth and Shiro uses that as confidence booster, “So if you’re worried about that baby, don’t. Just let me take care of you in both my forms. I’ll make you feel so good, baby.” He leans in against Keith, going to his ear to whisper, “Promise.”

Keith shudders in his arms and hesitantly wraps his own around Shiro’s waist, “O-okay. Take me home?”

Shiro feels a chuckle rumble through his chest and he tightens his hold on Keith’s upper body, “Gladly, baby.”

* * *

Keith blinks awake slowly. The light’s streaming in through his window, his lower body is sore and-

He smiles when he notices the body he’s sharing his bed with. The body he got very familiar with last night, that contains a soul he adores with all his heart. Sleeping peacefully, using his chest as a cushion with a content smile on his face. An arm wrapped snugly around his waist and two legs tangled with his own.

Keith brushes the hair off Shiro’s forehead and kisses it. God he loves this man.

His right arm is dead from being crushed by Shiro’s body, but he doesn’t mind. He wraps his other arm around him, swirling little patterns into Shiro’s right shoulder with his finger tips. He was afraid Shiro was starting to drift from him over these last few weeks.

He’s so glad he gets this.

Shiro starts to murmur and flutter his eyes open. Keith watches him look around with a bit of confusion in his face, then a pretty blush settles over him as he glances down.

Oh yeah, Keith kinda forgot they were naked. 

But that’s gonna happen when they both passed out after some really awesome sex. Fuck, he didn’t know it could feel that good, he thought it was gonna hurt at least once. But not once did he feel a pain that didn’t add to the overall pleasure of it-

“It wasn’t a dream.” Shiro murmurs, a blush high on his face and a bit of panic in his voice.

Keith hums and runs his fingers through Shiro’s hair, “That’s still debatable, considering how fucking perfect it was. I thought I was dreaming so many times.”

Shiro smiles and nuzzles closer to him, “Me too. God Keith, you were wonderful.”

Keith flushes and scratches Shiro behind the ear gently, watching in shock and happiness as Shiro’s butt began to wiggle like he was shaking his tail, “So were you, hot stuff.”

Shiro laughs and lifts himself up a little, resting his face in his left palm, “Keith, can I kiss you?”

Keith hums, tapping a finger to his lips, “I don’t know, we did get a face full of each others’ genitals yesterday-”

“Keith!” Shiro whines, falling down and hiding his face and… are his ears red?

Keith can’t help but laugh and roll on top of him, “It’s a serious question! But, just for the record, you can kiss me anywhere you like, at any moment.”

Shiro smiles and turns his head to reveal a smile, “Same here. God, I love you.”

Keith gapes at him.

Shiro seems to realize what he said and flushes as well, “Uhhh, I mean-”

“Me too!” Keith forces it out because no fucking way are they gonna miscommunicate after all this, “I, I love you too, Takashi. A lot.”

Shiro stares at him like he hung the moon and the stars in the sky just for him, which Keith would totally do if he could, then smiles. Keith leans down to kiss that smile and knows they’ll be alright.


End file.
